HAMILTON TOWNSHIP - Classes of students from Egg Harbor City, Mullica Township, Port Republic and Washington Township may know by the end of the summer whether they'll be the first to attend the new Cedar Creek High School when it opens in September 2010.
The $81.7 million project is designed to alleviate overcrowding at Absegami and Oakcrest high schools - but sports will be a big factor in determining how quickly students move to the new school in Egg Harbor City.
The school could open with students from all grades, with sophomores and freshmen or with freshmen alone.
"The number of kids is depending on ... certain populations coming in," said Adam Pfeffer, superintendent of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional School District, which oversees all three schools. "We have to know who's been interested in what and who's been playing what (sports)."
Pfeffer said he hopes to present data on student enrollment options for Cedar Creek before the end of the summer.
That timeline seems reasonable to Absegami Teachers Association President Madeline Avery, who said teachers are wondering what will happen because some of them could end up floating between schools at first.
"If they only open it as a ninth- and tenth-(grade) school, and you need to have five classes to be a full-time teacher, ... there might be some crossing over in the first or second year, I would think," she said, adding that the district likely would hire some new teachers in addition to the veterans who would cross over.
And parents want to know how the new school will affect sports programs.
"If you open a school as a ninth- and tenth-(grade) school, it's not going to have a varsity program. It's not going to allow a student to be a three- or four-year varsity letter winner. I would say some parents are probably concerned about that," she said. "And some are not. I guess it depends on whether your kid is involved in sports."
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association does not allow students to play for a sports program unless they are enrolled at the school that offers the program or the school that offers the program is the only school in the district that offers the sport at any level.
Pfeffer has said the district does not plan to open the school with a varsity sports program, nor all sports offered at Oakcrest and Absegami High schools, which opened in 1960 in Hamilton Township and in 1982 in Galloway Township, respectively.
E-mail Emily Previti:
How other new schools started
Barnegat Township High School: Opened in 2004 with only freshmen and with varsity teams in sports that don't compete at sub-varsity levels (such as track and field and swimming).
Jackson Liberty High School: Opened in 2006 with freshmen and sophomores, and with a varsity girls' cross-country team and sub-varsity teams for all other sports.
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